The fact that these assholes got in is a whole other issue all together because Republicans didn't have the spine to stand up to this. Kash Patel is an embarrassment and that podcaster...wow. Yeah you really owned us.
We knew the Zelensky catastrophe was going to be touched on and it's no less awkward to watch a second time.
I worked on the service side in restaurants for many a year and thankfully in California so I never had to deal with the whole sub minimum bs but I knew about it well. I do agree that tip culture is complicated. I always tip servers, drivers, even a barista if I'm feeling friendly that day. I've been there and I know what it is to rely on those tips.
That said I wholeheartedly support not tipping if the restaurant is paying their staff well. As John said it's so ingrained I'll probably tip anyway. But the whole culture of making anyone rely on tips as their income and not making a paycheck is straight up exploitation.